The power and value of art
When Lakisha Fernando resigned from her job as an art teacher at the MJF Foundation, it was because she wanted to start her own school. Today, she’s celebrating having done so.
The newly opened Savi Academy of Art uses drawing, painting, dancing, craft and drama to help children with special needs express themselves and realise their potential. There will be no fixed syllabus, instead Lakisha, who serves as the school’s head teacher, hopes to help children aged three and above explore the world of art at their own pace and on their own terms. She likes to see something tangible come out of it and hopes eventually to be able to help them sell their work for a commission so they can earn a small income.
Lakisha’s interests have always straddled these two fields – before MJF she taught art at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike College as well and remains a counselor at the ‘Sranaya’ Mental Health and Social Service Center in Horana, Srilanka. While she is currently studying for a Masters of Visual Arts at the University of Kelaniya she is simultaneously working toward a higher diploma in psychotherapy at the Mental Health Foundation. She already has another diploma in psychology and a B.A in Fine Arts under her belt.
Growing up, the eldest of three children, Lakisha says her parents always encouraged her creative and artistic side. Today, like other contemporary artists, Lakisha refuses to be constrained by various mediums and has worked with everything from fabric to photographs and paint. “My work incorporates different elements such as written texts, objects, photographs and painted surfaces together giving a textured plain,” she says.“They also transcend the two dimensional aspect of painting. As an installation artist, I have worked with natural and recycle materials. My preferred art material tends to be items and materials used in the decorative artists such as needle work, embroidery and lace making by women.”
Lakisha mostly enjoys collaborating with other artists as is borne out by her resume wherein group exhibitions far outnumber solo work. In fact, ‘Merge’ at the Harold Peiris Gallery in 2005 was her only solo exhibition.It was followed by several group exhibitions, most recently Pettah Expose at the Old Town Hall where her works were showcased alongside artists from CoCA. (Previous exhibits have seen her work shown in Pakistan, India, Nepal and of course Sri Lanka.)
For Pettah Expose, Lakisha was inspired by the transformations she was seeing in the old city. She believes some of the venerable cityscapes should be preserved and valued for their historical and social significance. Working with photographs of buildings around Pettah, she played with the colours and also layered intricate details on the pictures themselves. She hopes that for her next exhibit she will be able to create postcards that art lovers can actually write on and post or even just take home with them.
She’s had the chance to network, support and learn from others in the field through her membership at the Theertha International Artist Collective with whom she started out as a Coordinator of Theertha’s Woman Artists’ Programs. She has since been promoted to general coordinator and played a key role in founding the web based project International Fireflies Artists Net whose members are made up of artists from both Sri Lanka and abroad.
Her work with them had a distinct gender focus. As a female artist herself, Lakisha says women face unique challenges in the world of art – juggling many roles and often being denied social approval. “As an artist I have worked on the theme of ‘intimacy’ in relation to women’s experiences, examining, questioning and exploring the meanings and anxieties hidden in this seemingly innocent and affectionate word,” she adds.
When we meet her, Lakisha is looking for saris for another project, this time for the upcoming Colombo Art Biennale. She’ll need approximately 50 metres of fabric for it and is collecting saris and fabric from both the North and South. As with every other project, she’s had to work hard to find the time and the money to make it work and her work at Savi is equally challenging on many different levels. Still, Lakisha who believes that art has an immense power and value, wouldn’t exchange her unpredictable, creative life for anything.
To find out more about Savi contact Lakisha on +94 773 8 111 05 or email her on lakisha.niwanthi@gmail.com / info@firefliesartists.org.
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